Children and young people are being inspired to learn more about
climate change and coastal flood resilience through a
custom-built Minecraft world, thanks to a new game publicly
launched today.
CoastCraft is an educational game developed for Minecraft
Education, aligned with the curriculum in England and designed
for students aged between 9 and 14.
Bringing the impacts of the dynamic processes shaping the
coastline to life in an engaging way, CoastCraft challenges
players to respond to rising sea levels and the impacts of
climate change such as flooding, balancing the needs of different
communities while protecting the environment.
The consequences of these decisions are then brought to life in
the virtual Minecraft world.
Based on the landscape of the town of Bude in Cornwall, the game
has been developed in partnership by Minecraft Education,
Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency as part of the
latter's £200m Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme.
Innovative approaches to more sustainable use and development of
the coast are being trialled at Bude through the programme – and
CoastCraft allows children and young people to explore and learn
more about the way the Cornwall's coastline is being managed on
the beloved Minecraft platform.
Through eye-catching gameplay, CoastCraft inspires players to
learn about the features of coastal landscapes and processes and
understand the characteristics of sand dunes and how they are
used as a nature-based solution for flooding and coastal erosion.
Caroline Douglass, Executive Director for Flood and
Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency,
said:
Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and England's
coastline has never been static, but we know climate change is
increasing the risks.
CoastCraft inspires young people to use their creativity to
experiment with solutions to real world problems within the
virtual Minecraft world, ensuring the next generation has the
knowledge they need to face challenges now and in the future.
Floods Minister said:
As a former teacher, I'm thrilled that CoastCraft will help young
people understand the impacts of our changing climate, empowering
a new generation of scientists.
This virtual Minecraft world brings coastal change in communities
like Cornwall to life, to show how the risk of flooding and
coastal erosion is increasing due to climate
change.
We're investing a record £7.9 billion in capital funding over 10
years to better protect these coastal communities and are
committed to making sure flood risk management is fit for the
challenges we face now and in the future.
Loic Rich, Cornwall Council's cabinet member for
environment and climate change, said:
We're really proud that our coastal community of Bude serves as
the backdrop to this innovative game that teaches young people
about coastal and flood resilience.
We want to say a big thank you to students at Sir James School in Camelford and Windmill Hill
Academy in Launceston, both of whom worked with our climate
adaptation team to help develop and test CoastCraft which can now
be played by young people across the globe.
As the lead authority for managing the risk of flooding from
rivers, estuaries and the sea, the Environment Agency is working
to deliver the government's record £7.9 billion capital
investment over 10 years to 2035/36 to protect 840,000 properties
from the growing threat of flooding, the largest such programme
in history.
From 2015 to 2021, £2.6 billion was invested to protect the
country better from flooding and coastal erosion. Of this, £1.2
billion was invested to protect around 200,000 homes better from
coastal erosion and sea flooding.
The release of CoastCraft follows the success of the EA
games Rivercraft and Rivercraft
2, already available on Minecraft Education, providing an
innovative educational resource for flood risk management and
nature-based solutions to flooding.
